Aside from everything else, Hero is a movie about storytelling.  Jet Li plays a nameless warrior who is brought before the King of Qiu after successfully killing the three assassins who’ve been out to kill the King because of his plan to conquer the other six Chinese kingdoms and unite the nation.  The King rewards Li, and asks him how he was able to defeat these amazingly skilled assassins - Sky (Donnie Yen), Snow (Maggie Cheung), and Broken Sword (Tony…

Ben Foster is a consistently good actor who’s usually a smouldering standout in whatever he’s in.  So it’s great to see him get a lead role in Sharp Corner, playing against type as a family man.  Foster moves wife Cobie Smulders and their young son out of the city to their dream home - but the first night they are there, a car accident happens right in their front yard due to their house’s location on the title sharp corner.…

Definitely made with franchise fans in mind, Bloodlines even extends the “which dangerous thing will be the fatal one” game to the 1950s opening setpiece, set in a Sky Tower/Space Needle stand-in.  This time Death is stalking all the survivors and descendants of the opening tragedy, including protagonist Stefani’s entire family, quickly making her a True Believer who tries to save her loved ones.  

There are other tweaks to the formula too, but ultimately we are playing by the…

Ryan Coogler strikes again.  In Sinners, he opens with the legend of a musician appearing in various cultures creating music so powerful it can cross and attract from the past, present, and future - but also darkness.  Then he jumps to the end of his story in 1932 Mississippi, then back a day to when the Smokestack Twins (Michael B. Jordan and Michael B. Jordan) return to town fresh from a stint working for Al Capone in Chicago.  They’re there…